Computer sometimes won't boot

A recurring problem. The computer will run fine for months at a time;one day I restart it and it no longer boots up.

Upon startup the system gets as far as detecting the processor andthen stops. Does not detect the IDE drives. I doubt the drives are atfault, I have replaced them in the past and it did not fix theproblem.

Sometimes the system does not detect the processor.

The only fix I have so far is I unplug everything and let it sit.Typically it will boot up after resting for a day or so. What mightthis mean? On the old Macs this often meant you needed to zap thePRAM.

My amateur suspicion is the motherboard, since the system varies inwhat it does and does not detect -- sometimes it detects the processorbut not the IDE drives; sometimes it does not even detect theprocessor.

Once it boots the system runs flawlessly for months at a time.

There is no consistent pattern that I can see in what I do just priorto the system going on the fritz, it seems more or less random.

"m. lamphier" <mlamphier@hotmail.com> wrote in messagenews:53fc9e0a.0409200907.621683d9@posting.google.com...> A recurring problem. The computer will run fine for months at a time;> one day I restart it and it no longer boots up.>